Reflection

I have been traveling away from home for two days shy of 10 weeks. During those 68 days, I have not ironed any clothes, pulled any weeds, or vacuumed any floors. I have not driven a car (nor a motorhome, for that matter) or awoken to an alarm clock. I have not weighed myself nor looked in a full length mirror. I have not missed doing any of these things AT All!

During the past 68 days, I have not sewn on my sewing machine nor done any quilting. I have not arranged a vase of fresh flowers nor tasted a Maryland tomato. I have not visited a hair salon nor indulged in a pedicure. I have not watched a television program (except for seeing a short portion of the Olympics without sound in a bar and watching the Raven’s game last night in the hotel). I have to admit, there were times I missed these things A BIT.

For the past 68 days, I have not visited with family or my Maryland friends (except for the wonderful time with Jack and Judy). I have not hugged my children. I have missed these things A LOT.

But enough about what I didn’t do…let’s recap what did I do during those 68 days…

I’ve traveled in our motorhome over 7,000 miles through seven states and two Canadian provinces. I’ve visited six American national parks, six Canadian national parks, and many national forests and state parks.

I’ve hiked over 150 miles up and down mountains, through rainforests and subalpine forests, around lakes, and along the Pacific Ocean. I’ve walked on salt flats and in the cities of Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah.

I’ve seen many kinds of wildlife including bears, elk, bison, antelope, and Rocky Mountain sheep. I’ve delighted in the beauty of snow-capped mountains, fields of wildflowers, erupting geysers, simmering mud pots, and smooth, colorful river stones.

I’ve been in awe of massive glaciers and towering waterfalls. I’ve seen amazing sunsets and slept to the sounds of the ocean surf, train whistles, and complete silence.

I’ve savored regional cuisine and met people from around the world. I’ve shopped at 14 quilt shops and bought a 10 pound salmon right off the boat.

Wow!

Of course, all of this would not have been possible without Bill, my tour guide extraordinaire. Except for three hikes he took on his own, we have been together 24-7 for 65 days straight! And yes, we are still speaking to one another. In fact, we are more in love than ever. As Mark Twain said, “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”

A good time was had by all.

Bill and I both realize how lucky we are to have the time and resources to experience this kind and extent of travel. We have many wonderful memories of our trip that will continue to give us pleasure for years to come.

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

 

Back to the Beginning

Well, I’m back where this adventure began, Salt Lake City, Utah. I fly home tomorrow morning, and we decided it would be best to get a hotel room near the airport for tonight. By the way, I got a great deal on a room at the Hilton by using the app Room 77. The app indicated a room would be $80, but when we arrived here to get a room, they quoted us $120. The front desk clerk said he couldn't do any better. So I sat down in the lobby, booked a room in this very hotel using Room 77, and within seconds I had a confirmation number. I took the number to the front desk, and voila! we had a very nice room for $80! Gotta love a smartphone!

After we checked in, we drove to Temple Square to walk around, but most everything was closed…I guess it’s a Mormon thing. The Cheesecake Factory was open, though, so we had a great lunch.

Yesterday Bill and I hiked a trail on Antelope Island that kicked my butt! Even though I’ve done more rigourous hikes, I guess it was the heat of the day (we were in a desert, after all) and fact that I hadn’t had much to eat beforehand, that made it such a challenge. The hundreds of flies that followed us didn't help matters. Bill took a swim in the Great Salt Lake while I was recovering from the hike. He said floating on the lake (which is very easy due to the salinity of the water) was like lying on an air mattress.

Tomorrow Bill will drive to eastern Utah where he will again meet our friends Wayne and Shirley. They will spend a week together exploring Utah and Colorado, before Bill makes the trip home. I will miss my honey! Stay tuned tomorrow for my reflections of this amazing journey...

Salt!

Phew! We finally finished travelling through northern Nevada! The routes we took, Rt. 140 and I-80, meant hours of driving through arid, colorless land. The towns along the way were not much; in fact one, Battle Mountain, has the dubious distinction of being named the “Armpit of America” by the Washington Post. Thankfully, the cell towers were abundant, and I could entertain myself with my phone.

Thursday night we camped at a KOA in West Wendover, Nevada, which, because of its casinos, is prosperous. There’s not much besides the casinos, though, and we walked to one to have dinner. I did resist the urge to gamble, mainly because the slot machines were nothing like I remember. You couldn’t just drop a quarter in and pull the lever...there were tokens to buy and tickets to cash in. At least our dinner was good. We walked around town for awhile, as it was lit up by many neon signs.

The next day we entered Utah and were amazed by the Bonneville Salt Flats. The flats stretch over 30,000 acres, and we stopped to admire them at the site of the Bonneville Speedway. For miles and miles, all you see is white crusty salt that resembles snowpack. Bill and I walked on the flats for awhile and saw a family in their Dodge Caravan have fun speeding around on them (Bill said we would be doing the same if we were in the Audi). As many of you know, I love salt, so I couldn’t resist tasting! Our drive continued through the salt flats for many miles, and we even passed a Morton’s Salt Factory!

We are spending the weekend on Antelope Island, which is in the Great Salt Lake. There’s a state park here with trails to hike and wildlife to see. We’ve already seen bison, antelope and coyotes. As I type this I am looking out onto the lake from our campsite. The land is still desert-like here, so it’s very different from the mountain lakes we have visited. The Great Salt Lake is five times saltier than the ocean, and yes, I’ve already tasted it too:)

By the way, on our walk out to the lake last night I found a twenty dollar bill! Take that Nevada and your gambling ways!

The Long and Winding Road

Although I slept very well Sunday night, I woke up cold, which is unusual since we had the heat turned on. Bill noticed the lights blinking on the refrigerator…uh oh…we had run out of propane. Dismayed at not being able to heat the water for my coffee, I became even more dismayed when Bill pointed out we had $100 worth of salmon in the freezer! Up we both jumped, and within minutes we were on the road headed for the nearest town…which wasn’t that “near”. It took us about a half an hour to reach Gold Beach, where we had to pay a premium price for propane. The town was pretty dead, so we decided to travel to the next place on the map, Agness, OR, to get some coffee and breakfast. The road to Agness was a very long, narrow and winding one. On the right of the road was a steep wall of rock and dirt, and over the left edge was a very deep river gorge. There were no guard rails, and at many spots only room for one vehicle. Fortunately, I was in a pre-coffee comatose state, so I took it all in stride. Later, looking up Agness, OR, to find out why on earth people would go there, I came across this sentence on Wikipedia:

“Agness has a K–6 "one-room school", which actually consists of two rooms. It is kept open by the  Central Curry School District because of its "geographical remoteness": approximately 30 miles from Gold Beach up a "winding and sometimes dangerous" road. This road has been the site of several incidents that have resulted in the deaths of travelers.”

As we entered the “town”, a sign greeted us that said, “Welcome to Agness. Population-Small”. The only thing we found in town was a tiny post office and a small store, which did not serve coffee. We decided to make our own right there in the parking lot, where we discovered that the propane that we had just filled was not working. Thank goodness we found out then! Bill fixed it with a few clicks of some switch, and with coffees in hand, we took the only way out of Agness, back down that long and winding…and dangerous...road. Fortunately, everything in our freezer remained frozen…and we did not fall to our deaths.

Life got much better that day, as we entered beautiful Crater Lake National Park. At a depth of 1,943’, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. Fed by rain and snow (but no rivers or streams), the lake is considered to be the cleanest large body of water in the world.

The lake rests inside a caldera that was formed approximately 7,700 years ago when a volcano collapsed following a major eruption. Bill and I did not take the one hike that allows access to the water, but we took a few others that afforded us amazing views of Crater Lake.

We are now making our way through Nevada, enroute to Salt Lake City. From there, Delta Airlines will take me home on Monday. Lots more to see before that happens, though!

Birthday Fun

I suppose my birthday celebration began two days before the actual event, because on Thursday Bill did something he doesn’t like to do…spend time in a city. I wanted to visit Powell’s City of Books, “the largest independently owned book store in the world”, which is located in downtown Portland, Oregon. We found it without much trouble and located a great parking spot for the motorhome. After walking around the city for awhile and getting lunch from a food truck, we went to the book store.

Wow! Powell’s occupies an entire city block and stocks more than a million new and used books! I bought some used quilting books and purchased a few gifts before leaving. It was great fun!

The celebration continued when we decided to go out to eat on my “birthday-eve”. After securing a campsite, we drove into the small fishing town of Newport, Oregon and found a bar/restaurant with views of the Yaquina Bay. We drank a couple of beers there as we looked upon (and heard) the barking sea lions hanging out on the rocks near the piers. It was interesting talking to a young fisherman who told us the sea lions were all males (the females prefer the warmer waters of California). He shook his head in dismay and explained the sea lions stay in this area because they can eat the fish right off the hooks as the fishing boats come in. “We wouldn’t have this abundance of sea lions if they (county government) would only let the orcas come closer into the bay,” he lamented. Orcas? Wow, again!

Not finding the menu very enticing, we walked down the street to a small, but popular, restaurant called Local Ocean Seafood. Double-wow! I couldn’t decide whether to get the pan-fried Yaquina Bay oysters or the Fishwive's Stew, so we decided to get both and share. It was one of the best meals I can remember. The stew had Dungeness crab, scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, and fish in a rich, tomato garlicky broth. The oysters were large, tasty, and plentiful. The glass of crisp Chardonnay paired well with the feast, and we went home full and very happy.

But it gets better…my birthday was yesterday, and it began with an hour-long walk on the beach along the Pacific Ocean. This beach was large and sandy and the sun was shining…a perfect start to the day. Next stop, lunch. Again we scored a great restaurant. It is a family-owned and run place called Newport Café. I again had pan-fried local oysters, this time on a sandwich. Delicious!

Lucky for me, Newport has a Starbucks where I had my favorite Pumpkin Spice Latte, and a quilt shop, where of course, I had to buy MORE fabric. But wait, it gets better…

We noticed signs indicating you could buy fish right off the fishing boats. I absolutely love salmon, so we inquired about buying some from the fisherman on the “Ocean Lady”.

You have to buy the whole fish ($9.50 a pound), but he would gut, fillet, and cut it into dinner-sized portions for free. They were Chinook (sometimes known as King) salmon and were caught the day before. I asked for the smallest one he had, which was a little over ten pounds. Sold!

We took it right back to the RV, where we double-wrapped each piece, put the pieces in baggies, and stored them in our freezer. We can’t cook it on our travels (too smelly and Bill won't let me "tarnish" our grill), so I’ll have to wait until we get home before I taste it…can’t wait!

The day continued with a beautiful drive down Highway 101, which follows the Pacific Coast. We ended up with a campsite in Florence, Oregon, again on the water. The stores in the historic part of town were in walking distance from the campground, so I had the opportunity to walk around and shop without a restless husband hovering around. We ended my birthday extravaganza with another great seafood dinner.

It was certainly a birthday to remember...I didn't even mind getting another year older!

Diversity

Diversity is the name of the game when traveling through Washington State, both in weather and terrain. We started the week on the Pacific Ocean where it was misty and cool. Here are some pictures of a few beaches we hiked to:

Monday morning Bill and I took a 2 mile walk in the Hoh Rain Forest, where it was…raining. Talk about green! This area gets 142 inches of rain a year, which means really big trees and lush green ferns and moss…lots of moss. The Hoh Rain Forest is one of the largest temperate rain forests in the USA. We also saw the “World’s Largest Spruce Tree” in the Quinault Rain Forest. It is 1,000 years old, 191’ tall and its circumference is 59’!

Today we are in Mt. Ranier National Park, where its namesake is a sight to behold!

It's bright and sunny today, quite different from the coastal weather. Next stops...Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood.

Oceanfront

Today is Day 2 of camping with an unobstructed view of the Pacific Ocean. We are very close to the shore so we can hear and see the waves and the wetsuit-clad surfers riding them. There are no places in Maryland where we can camp and get views of the ocean like this! Today is quite foggy and cool...it's 63 degrees at 2 PM, but yesterday was sunny and clear. Last night's sunset over the ocean was another photo-taking bonanza! I took 41 pictures...here is one.

This has been the most expensive place we've camped so far this trip. It costs $37.80 a night; that includes electric, sewer, and water. Usually, we pay around $22, but there were quite a few nights we've camped for free. As of today, our average price per night is $15.15. Not bad!

Olympic Peninsula

We’re at the beach! But not the lie in the sun, build sand castles kind of beach we have in the East. The beaches of the Olympic peninsula in Washington State have other things to offer: views of Canada, views of snow-capped mountains, smooth, rounded stones of many sizes and colors, starfish, seals, and long, billowy kelp. We have spent the last four days listening to the surf while gazing up at mountains. This area is spectacular!

Tuesday morning we walked along Dungeness Spit, which at five miles long, is the largest natural sand hook in the nation.

On the walk, I spotted two bright red starfish that had washed up on shore.

Thinking they were dead, I gently put one in a baggie intending to bring it home. A passer-by informed me it was not dead, so I placed it back where I found it (secretly hoping on my trip back I’d have enough nerve to take it anyway). Alas, only one was there on our return trip, and we assume another beachcomber decided to take it, since it was too far from the surf to be swept out to sea. I picked up the one remaining, and posed it for a photo op:) before making sure it was safely back in the water.

I did pocked some beautiful turquoise-colored stones, though, to put in my birdbath at home.

There are charming towns out here, and it seems each is known for something in particular: Coupeville for its mussels, Quilcene for its oysters, and Sequim (pronounced skwĭm) for its lavender. Sequim gets less than 20 inches of rain per year, and it has an ideal microclimate for growing lavender. Since it is known as the “Lavender Capital of North America”, I did some Christmas shopping and purchased some lovely scented homemade soaps. Bill decided the scent was not so lovely, so they were banished to an outside compartment of the motorhome.

Today we took a 9 mile walk that included 3 miles of walking on the shore of the Pacific Ocean. How different is it from our good ol' Ocean City at home! It was quite foggy, so we couldn't see the islands in the distance nor the seals we heard barking.

Tonight we are camping in Sekiu, Washington. Again, we have are right on the water, this time the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Last night we were on the shores of Lake Ozette. I am so loving the sounds of the surf and the sea birds and the calming effects of the water. Of course, I am calm most of the time these days...I'm retired!!